Why does it seem like most of the qualities of a Christian leader are also those of followers of Christ? Because in Christian leadership, all leaders are followers. Christian leadership isn’t like secular leadership in many ways, but the most important way is this: no matter how high up the ladder you go, the Christian leader always follows. Always; with no exceptions.
We often forget that Jesus told His disciples that to lead meant to serve everyone else. Jesus said that those who wished to be first would be last. To be a good leader, you must also be a good follower.
You must be a good follower of Christ. Remember that no matter what you lead, as a Christian leader, you still answer to God. That is what separates Christian leadership from a lot of business models. If you don’t follow Jesus, then you don’t have to answer to anybody else, and you don’t necessarily have to be a follower. As a Christian leader it’s different.
I think it would do a world of good if all leaders spent some time following, maybe every day. I think it would change the leader/follower paradigm in most companies. They would begin to understand what Christian leaders should already know: following is an essential part of leading.
How are we teaching our young people to follow? Seems like a strange question coming from a leadership blog, but it is pertinent. The ability that our students have to follow godly leadership now has a huge impact on how they lead tomorrow.
Do you want an arrogant, impetuous Christian leader? Don’t teach them to be a follower.
Do you want an out of touch Christian leader? Don’t teach them to be a follower.
Do you want a Christian leader who abuses their power? Don’t teach them to be a follower.
Question: How are you teaching your students to follow? How are you connecting those lessons to future leadership?
Training Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,
Matt
No comments:
Post a Comment